One of the interesting aspects of engaging in a hobby of watching something from thousands of miles away is that very little of it is seen in the flesh. A virtual activity if you will.
When I first saw a European club live in America it reminded me of being a kid seeing my first major league baseball game. I had seen all of the players on television many, many times. And now, here they were just a few feet away. Same magic.
No doubt this was a feeling felt by thousands over the past two weeks during the US Tour tour of three European clubs, plus a Mexican League club. I attended the Club America vs Inter Milan match in Palo Alto that kicked off the competition, and as sluggish as the play seemed to be, it was exciting nonetheless to see some big names in person.
Sunday evening, the conclusion of hopefully the first of many future installments of the World Football Challenge was Chelsea defeating Club America 2-0 in the new Cowboys Stadium near Dallas.
It was a bit surreal seeing John Terry, the Chelsea captain, chatting with Jerry Jones, owner of the NFL Dallas Cowboys, after the match. Mr. Jones was there to deliver the silverware to Chelsea who won the competition. Mr. Terry started a bit of small talk before the photographers and video cams started their documentation of the trophy presentation. He looked like such a pleasant guy trying to have a conversation with somebody who had no idea who he was talking to.
But that's what in large part has been going on the last two weeks. The European game is slowly becoming more familiar in this country to increase its brand recognition in America. And brand recognition brings money. The history of this aspect of world football was presented in the erudite history book of world football that doesn't leave my night stand – The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt (here is a nice review posted on the blog Pitch Invasion). In Chapter 17 titled "Football through the Looking-Glass: Europe, 1990-2006", Mr. Goldblatt wrote the following about the European football landscape at the beginning of the 1990's:
While the leading clubs of the Continent were busy with their property portfolios, ancillary activities and creative accounting techniques, they increasingly understood themselves as not just clubs, not just mere businesses, but as brands. What were once the unintended repositories of a local patriotism, collective identity or neighborhood solidarity became consciously designed icons, signifiers of aspirational values and symbols of identity that could be purchased rather than inherited, learned or felt.
I thought of that when I saw the thousands of fans at today's AC Milan vs Inter Milan Match at Gillette Stadium. Many were dressed in vertically-striped shirts - either the red and black or the blue and black of the two Italian clubs. And later in the day, the distinctive bright royal blue jerseys of Chelsea supporters dotted the stadium landscape in Texas. Many of us here in the States that follow European football have purchased, not inherited, our new football supporter identity.
But that doesn't matter, because a good time is had by all. As Lily Allen sings:
Now everything is cool as long as I'm gettin' thinner.
And there is more to come this summer. The number one cash-splashing, big-time branding football club of the world brings its collection of world superstars to Eastern North America: Real Madrid will play exhibitions against MLS squads Toronto and D.C. United on August 7 and 9. And, Madrid's biggest rival, FC Barcelona, will visit the US West Coast when they play exhibitions against MLS squads LA Galaxy and Seattle on August 1 and 5, and then play the Mexican League side Chivas Guadalajara in San Francisco on August 9. And, oh, lest I forget, Everton of the English Premier League will play the MLS All-Star Team this Wednesday in Utah.
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